Company
by Kyre
Summary: ML One night on the street. Who knows, it could be fun. Answer to a Cape Haven challenge.


_Here's my answer to a __Cape __Haven__ challenge to write an S1 fic in which Max and Logan go camping in a tent. It's set sometime after Prodigy. Hope you like it! Thanks to Alaidh and Kasman for betaing._

* * *

On a rare sunny day in Seattle during the late fall, a line of people sat on the sidewalk outside a theater. They were dressed in layers, clearly prepared for the cool weather. Some sat wrapped in blankets, peering out into the street. Others rubbed their hands together in an effort to stay warm. Their breath clouded as it left their mouths and noses.

Half a block away from the theater, a blue Aztek eased into a parking space. Max emerged from the car, wearing her Jam Pony backpack and carrying some blankets. She took up position at the end of the line nearby. Logan followed her reluctantly.

"Max, this is stupid," he said. He looked around. Not only did he feel a bit self-conscious, waiting around in the middle of the sidewalk, but there were better things he could be working on.

"No, it isn't. People do this all the time."

"Not when they don't have to. Let me make some calls and get tickets that way."

Max, for her part, was cheerful and not about to let anything deter her. "Logan, I told you, I don't just want to see this band—I want the whole experience. That includes waiting overnight for tickets."

"Considering most people these days are more worried about putting food on the table than seeing concerts—"

"I got that covered, thanks to my meal ticket." She grinned, but her grin faded when she saw his lips tighten at that line. She made a mental note not to use it again. "Besides, this show isn't expensive. It's just gonna sell out. Why do you think all these other people are here?"

Logan looked around. He did have to admit that most of the people ahead of them in line seemed to be waiting eagerly. Still, he wasn't sure why Max had asked _him_ to come along. "And none of your work friends are here because…?"

She grinned again, this time mischievously. "'Cause they're not as good as me at coming up with good excuses for Normal."

"You blew off work to—"

"Since when are you worried about me missing work?" She raised an eyebrow at him as she swung her backpack off her shoulders and unzipped it. She had missed countless days of work for his missions, and suddenly he was against the idea?

Logan seemed to acknowledge the absurdity of the statement. "I just don't want you to get fired."

"I won't," she said lightly. She handed him a bag of folded, flexible poles from her backpack so she could continue to empty its contents. "Hold this."

"What are you doing?"

"We're gonna set up the tent."

Logan was surprised. She'd come to his apartment and asked him to wait for tickets with her, but since she'd been grinning like the Cheshire cat when she told him the wait would be overnight, he'd thought she'd been teasing him. "So you were serious..."

Max spoke sincerely, looking up at him from the sidewalk. "I really want to see this band, Logan. And I really want you to wait with me."

"You do?" he asked, suddenly feeling honored.

"Yeah."

They looked at each other for a moment. Logan was impressed that Max wanted his company and that she had actually admitted as much.

Max realized she'd opened herself up and amended her statement defensively. "I mean, what fun would it be to wait by myself?"

Logan's heart sank a bit. Maybe it wasn't him she wanted, after all—just a warm body. After all, her friends weren't able to come along. "So I'm the reserve."

She rolled her eyes. That wasn't what she had meant. "Stop it. It'll be fun."

He paused to think. Okay, so maybe she did want him here. But he hadn't packed any personal items for an overnight stay, and he definitely did not want to discuss that with Max. Without realizing it, he raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck self-consciously. "Max, I can't just—"

"You keep stuff in the car for emergencies. You'll be fine for one night." She didn't even turn her attention to him, just continued unpacking the tent as if she were discussing the weather, but Logan was distinctly uncomfortable. She knew what he was talking about _and_ had discovered his backup supply. When had that happened?

He wanted nothing more than to change the subject. "It's not just that."

Her eyes flashed as she glanced at him, irritated. "The world will wait while you-know-who takes a breather to keep a friend company."

She looked around, realizing she'd spoken a bit more loudly than she'd intended, and took a calming breath. "Hand me that air mattress."

Geez…she'd thought of everything. He handed her the flattened roll, starting to reconsider. "You're going to a lot of trouble for one set of concert tickets."

She smiled at him. "It's worth it." And it would be, especially if he agreed to stay.

"This really means that much to you?" he asked quietly.

She nodded, watching him. "It does."

Logan pondered this for a moment.

"In that case," he said finally, "I'll be right back." He turned and disappeared into a nearby coffee shop. Max watched him go, happy that he'd agreed. She turned back to her task with a wide smile on her face.

Ten minutes later he returned, bearing two paper cups with lids in a sturdy cardboard beverage carrier. The aroma wafted to her nose before he pulled up and she breathed it in, delighted.

"Ooh, hot chocolate!" she exclaimed. "Good idea."

"I figured the camping experience wouldn't be complete without it," Logan smiled, handing her one of the cups. "Here."

"Thanks." She took a careful sip and sighed contentedly. "Mmm, that's good."

He removed his own cup from the carrier and blew on it to cool it. "I see you got the tent set up while I was gone." It stood directly in front of them, a green 8' x 8' dome tent, complete with rain fly. He wondered briefly where she'd gotten it, doubting it was her own since she seemed to rarely leave the city.

"Yup, come on in and look around." Max unzipped the tent door and crawled inside, easily balancing her hot chocolate as she did so. She turned around to take Logan's cup from him.

He checked to make sure no one was watching and transferred to the sidewalk, scooting backward into the tent until he reached a beach chair Max had borrowed from Kendra. Once settled, he looked around. The tent was cozy enough. The air mattress took up the entire floor space, and the blankets Max had brought were lined up neatly along one side.

"I wouldn't have thought there was this much room on the sidewalk," he commented, impressed.

"Comfortable?" she asked as she handed him his hot chocolate.

"Yeah, actually. Reminds me of camping in the woods as a kid. Except for, you know, the sound of cars whizzing by."

Max chuckled. She looked at Logan for a moment, trying to imagine him as a boy. What had he been like before his parents' deaths, before his divorce, before the Pulse and Eyes Only, before the shooting—all the things that seemed to weigh on him now? She saw his eyes sparkle with pleasant memory and smiled at the sight. "What'd you do?"

He took off his glasses and cleaned them on his sweater while he remembered. "Oh, we'd go swimming in the lake, or play cards on rainy days."

"No lake nearby, but I did bring cards." She reached into her backpack and triumphantly withdrew a pack of playing cards. Logan grinned. She removed the cards and shuffled them speedily. "What's your pleasure?"

"Poker."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Logan's grin widened and he cocked his head. "What can I say? I'm good at it."

"Yeah?" She smiled at him as she dealt, both amused by his comment and relishing the beating he was about to get. "Did I ever tell you how we saved Sketchy's ass…"


End file.
